anemia

anemia
/euh nee"mee euh/, n.
1. Pathol. a quantitative deficiency of the hemoglobin, often accompanied by a reduced number of red blood cells and causing pallor, weakness, and breathlessness.
2. a lack of power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness: His writing suffers from anemia. Also, anaemia.
[1800-10; < NL < Gk anaimía want of blood. See AN-1, -EMIA]

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I
Condition in which erythrocytes are reduced in number or volume or are deficient in hemoglobin.

The patient is usually noticeably pale. Close to 100 varieties exist (including aplastic anemia, pernicious anemia, and sickle-cell anemia), distinguished by cause; erythrocyte size, shape, and hemoglobin content; and symptoms. Anemia may result from blood loss; increased destruction, reduced production, or inhibited formation of red cells; or hormone deficiency. Treatment may involve nutrition, toxin removal, drugs, surgery, or transfusion. See also folic-acid-deficiency anemia, iron-deficiency anemia.
II
(as used in expressions)
anemia of bone marrow failure

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also spelled  anaemia 

      condition in which the red blood cells (erythrocytes (erythrocyte)) are reduced in number or volume or are deficient in hemoglobin, their oxygen-carrying pigment. The most noticeable outward symptom of anemia is usually pallor of the skin, mucous membranes, and nail beds. Symptoms of tissue oxygen deficiency include pulsating noises in the ear, dizziness, fainting, and shortness of breath. Compensatory action of the heart may lead to its enlargement and to a rapid pulse rate. There are close to 100 different varieties of anemia, distinguished by the cause and by the size and hemoglobin content of the abnormal cells.

      Anemia results when the destruction of red blood cells exceeds production, production of red blood cells is reduced, or acute or chronic blood loss occurs. Increased destruction of red blood cells ( hemolysis) may be caused by hereditary cell defects, as in sickle cell anemia, hereditary spherocytosis, or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Destruction also may be caused by exposure to hemolytic chemicals (substances causing the release of hemoglobin from the red cells) such as the antibiotic drug sulfanilamide, the antimalarial drug primaquine, or naphthalene (mothballs), or it may be caused by development of antibodies against the red blood cells, as in erythroblastosis fetalis. Reduced production of red cells may be caused by disorders of the bone marrow, as in leukemia and aplastic anemia, or by deficiency of one or more of the nutrients, notably vitamin B12, folic acid (folate), and iron, that are necessary for the synthesis of red cells. Lower production may also be caused by deficiency of certain hormones or inhibition of the red-cell-forming processes by certain drugs or by toxins produced by disease, particularly chronic infection, cancer, and kidney failure.

      Structurally, the anemias generally fall into the following types: (1) macrocytic anemia, characterized by larger-than-normal red cells (e.g., pernicious anemia), (2) normocytic anemia, characterized by a decrease in the number of red cells, which are otherwise relatively normal (e.g., anemia caused by sudden blood loss, as in a bleeding peptic ulcer, most cases of hemophilia, and purpura), (3) simple microcytic anemia, characterized by smaller-than-normal red cells (encountered in cases of chronic inflammatory conditions and in renal disease), and (4) microcytic hypochromic anemia, characterized by a reduction in red-cell size and hemoglobin concentration (frequently associated with iron-deficiency anemia but also seen in thalassemia).

      The treatment of anemia varies greatly, depending on the diagnosis. It includes supplying the missing nutrients in the deficiency anemias, detecting and removing toxic factors, improving the underlying disorder with drugs and other forms of therapy, decreasing the extent of blood destruction by methods that include surgery (e.g., splenectomy), or restoring blood volume with transfusion (blood transfusion).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • anemia — f. hemat. Disminución de la concentración de hemoglobina o del número de eritrocitos en la sangre por bajo de los límites normales para la edad y sexo del sujeto. Puede ser debido a una pérdida o destrucción de los eritrocitos o por un trastorno… …   Diccionario médico

  • anemia — (Del gr. ἀναιμία, carencia de sangre). f. Med. Empobrecimiento de la sangre por disminución de su cantidad total, como ocurre después de las hemorragias, o por enfermedades, ya hereditarias, ya adquiridas, que amenguan la cantidad de hemoglobina… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • anemia — ANEMIÁ, anemiez, vb. I. Refl şi tranz. A ajunge sau a face să ajungă în stare de slăbiciune din cauza anemiei. [pr.: mi a] – Din fr. (s )anémier. Trimis de ana zecheru, 09.02.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  anemiá vb. (sil. mi a), ind. prez. 3 …   Dicționar Român

  • Anemia — Anemia: Anemia (растение) род папоротниковидных растений из семейства Schizaeaceae Anemia (насекомое) род жесткокрылых насекомых семейства чернотелок …   Википедия

  • anemia — /ane mia/ s.f. [dal gr. anaimía, der. di aíma sangue , col pref. an priv.]. 1. (med.) [condizione morbosa caratterizzata da diminuzione del numero di globuli rossi o di emoglobina nel sangue] ▶◀ ‖ clorosi, oligoemia. ● Espressioni: anemia… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • anemia — sustantivo femenino 1. (no contable) Área: medicina Disminución anormal del número de glóbulos rojos en la sangre: Como consecuencia de la hemorragia, Ana tuvo una anemia grave que la dejó muy débil …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • anemia — anemia. См. малокровие. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • anemia — (n.) alternative (chiefly U.S.) spelling of ANAEMIA (Cf. anaemia) (q.v.). See AE (Cf. ae). As a genus of plants, Modern Latin, from Gk. aneimon unclad, from privative prefix an (see AN (Cf. an ) (1)) + eima a dress, garment …   Etymology dictionary

  • anemia — s. f. 1.  [Medicina] Diminuição dos glóbulos vermelhos do sangue. 2.  [Medicina] Estado causado por essa diminuição. 3. Debilidade ou fraqueza. ≠ FORÇA, PUJANÇA, VIGOR   ‣ Etimologia: grego anaimía, falta de sangue …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • anemia — {{/stl 13}}{{stl 8}}rz. ż IIb, blm {{/stl 8}}{{stl 7}} choroba polegająca na obniżeniu się zawartości hemoglobiny we krwi lub spadku poniżej normy liczby krwinek czerwonych, przejawiająca się bladością, skróceniem oddechu i niedostatkiem energii; …   Langenscheidt Polski wyjaśnień

  • anemia — (Brit. anaemia) ► NOUN ▪ a shortage of red cells or haemoglobin in the blood, resulting in pallor and weariness. ORIGIN from Greek an without + haima blood …   English terms dictionary

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